Our Backs Against an Oak Tree
by IsItLikeCommedia
Summary: Getting a handle on her banshee abilities, Lydia goes to a clearing where she knows someone will die and hides in an oak tree. Realizing she's in over her head, she calls her best friend to help her.


The only sound Allison heard were her boots crackling in the leaves as she ran through the forest. They crackled over the sound of her heartbeat, which she could feel bursting through her chest. She couldn't think of stealth. Only Lydia.

Lydia at lunch that day throwing her hair over her shoulder and laughing at something Allison said – she couldn't remember what now. Lydia's laughter was so distracting, she forgot her words as soon as she said them. That red hair, radiant smile, and a giggle that was somehow both raucous and quiet.

Lydia.

Lydia hadn't considered what would happen when she actually got there. For quite some time, she'd been blacking out and coming to next to dead bodies, and for the first time she managed to put the pieces of the puzzle together before the blackout occurred. Now she stood behind a great oak looking into a clearing where someone was going to die so Allison needed to be there. Now.

Last time when she came to next to a body, she'd called Stiles, but lately he'd been preoccupied. He had always been the one to notice when she wasn't herself, to notice that she's something other than human, and to actually care about how it affected her. She hadn't wanted anyone to think her weak, and really they were all too busy trying not to die all the time to notice her. It made her so angry. Sometimes you have to reach out though, and when you do, you have to reach out to your best friend. Your disgustingly beautiful best friend who's always flirting with the goddamn werewolves who put you into this mess.

She put her back against the oak. In folksongs, whenever someone put their back against an oak tree they were either giving birth or fighting to the death. Maybe there was something to that, the people grasping the remnants of druidic lore as time moved forward. Time sure was moving forward now. Better safe than sorry. She reached up to a knot in the tree, grabbed a branch above her shoulder, and pulled herself into the tree as high as she could go.

A scream echoed from across the clearing, and Lydia hurriedly crouched behind the branches and peered through the leaves. In the moment she'd taken to climb the tree, someone died, and she could make out his form on the ground about a hundred feet away.

The leaves crackled loudly just beneath her, and Lydia screamed.

"LYDIA!" Allison stopped where she was and looked to the noise.

"Allison!" Lydia screeched. "Get up here!"

Looking up into the tree, Allison could just make out Lydia's hair in the moonlight. They were lucky they had light to see by, but the moon's fullness meant the werewolves were up to who knows what. Allison was frankly tired of keeping up, and she knew it was taking a toll on Lydia.

As she hoisted herself up, she saw a frightened face above her smile in hopeful relief. She couldn't help herself. She smiled, too.

"I'm glad you're okay. Why did you scream?"

Lydia turned around and pointed to the other side of the clearing. "Just before you got here."

"Did you see who killed them?"

"No. I was too busy climbing a tree in fright, which I think is a reasonable excuse. Probably one of your boyfriends."

Allison balanced on the branch below her and reached up to grab her hand.

"You're okay. We're okay."

"I wish I were more effective. I want to know what I can do as a banshee. I can do more than just scream. I know it."

"We'll figure it out."

"Come up here?"

"Sure."

Lydia scooted to the next branch, using another branch for balance, while Allison climbed to the branch where she was just sitting. It was lucky Lydia picked the biggest tree in sight. This oak had been here as long as she could remember, though she hadn't recently been climbing trees.

"You know, I used to come here when I was little. I used to make leaf rubbings in the woods, and I'd come here to collect insects."

Allison grinned her toothy grin. "You're such a nerd."

Lydia's hand slipped into hers with a sigh, and Allison held her breath.

"How long do you want to stay up here?"

"Until we know it's safe. I didn't see what killed him, and it could still be here. I know you can protect yourself, but I don't want to risk you. I didn't even want to call you. I just… I was scared."

Allison looked at her and bit her bottom lip. She so wanted to protect her, and she could see how scared she was. She had been scared for so long. She sat with her back to the tree trunk, her head resting against the bark.

"I'm going to call Scott."

Of course Allison was going to call Scott. Or Isaac. Or her father. For all Lydia knew, Allison was going to call Derek Hale next. Jesus. She pulled her hand from Allison's and leaned forward, watching the body and tuning out Allison's conversation. Luckily, it wasn't much of a conversation because Scott didn't pick up. Full moon? Maybe. Who fucking cared?

No one cared because at that moment the body moved. So naturally, Lydia screamed.

"Oh my god, Lydia, what happened?"

"He moved! The body moved!"

"I thought you said he was dead."

"Well, I thought he was dead, obviously. In my dream, he was dead."

They shared a look, that look that said, "Oh God, what are we doing? We're going to die. I don't want to be here," and Allison steeled herself to climb down. Lydia was so grateful for her, she wanted to cry.


End file.
